Frequency of and responses to illegal activity related to commerce in firearms: findings from the Firearms Licensee Survey.
نویسنده
چکیده
BACKGROUND Firearms may be obtained illegally from federally-licensed dealers and pawnbrokers through surrogate (straw) purchases, undocumented purchases and theft. Some retailers knowingly make illegal sales. OBJECTIVE To obtain information about the frequency of and risk factors for these events, and retailers' reactions to them, directly from licensed retailers. METHODS Survey of a random sample of 1601 licensed dealers and pawnbrokers in 43 states who were believed to sell ≥50 firearms annually, conducted by mail during June-August 2011. RESULTS The response rate was 36.9%, typical of establishment surveys using such methods. In the preceding year, 67.3% of respondents experienced attempted straw purchases; 42.4% experienced undocumented purchase attempts. For each event, 10% reported ≥1 occurrence/month. A quarter (25.6%) experienced firearm theft in the preceding 5 years. Pawnbroker status, sales volume, denied sales and sales of firearms that were subsequently traced by law enforcement were associated with all outcomes in multivariate analysis. Estimates of retailer involvement in illegal sales (median 3%, IQR 1-10%) were related in multivariate analysis to respondents' age and sex, and to denied sales. In a hypothetical case involving 50 illegal sales, respondents recommended prolonged incarceration (median 10 years, IQR 5-20 years) and a substantial fine (median $50 000, IQR $10 000-$250 000) for retailers and made similar recommendations for buyers. CONCLUSIONS Attempts to acquire firearms illegally from licensed dealers and pawnbrokers are common. Characteristics associated with frequency of occurrence may facilitate prevention efforts. Licensed retailers consider selling and buying firearms illegally to be serious crimes.
منابع مشابه
Firearms Licensee Characteristics Associated with Sales of Crime-Involved Firearms and Denied Sales: Findings from the Firearms Licensee Survey
متن کامل
ATF CRIME GUN TRACE ANALYSIS REPORT Youth Crime Gun Interdiction Initiative
Attached are reports prepared by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) for the 17 communities participating in the Youth Crime Gun Interdiction Initiative. They fulfill three goals by: (1) Documenting how juveniles and youth illegally obtain firearms; (2) Enabling Federal and local enforcement agencies to assess the illegal firearms problem in their communities and develop strategie...
متن کاملCountermarketing and Demarketing Against Product Diversion: Forensic Research in the Firearms Industry
Few marketing problems in society lead to the tragedy of harm that can result when firearms are diverted from the legal to the illegal marketplace. Product diversion is itself a serious concern for marketers, especially marketers of potentially dangerous products, such as tobacco, alcohol, firearms, and pharmaceuticals. These products may be sought and obtained by consumers who occupy illegal m...
متن کاملReducing Firearms Violence through Directed Police Patrol*
In the early 1990s, the Kansas City Police Department conducted a quasi-experiment in which they tested the effect of directed police patrols in a high violent crime neighborhood. The directed patrol strategy utilized officers in patrol cars who were freed from the responsibility of responding to calls for police service. The officers were instructed to proactively patrol the neighborhood with ...
متن کاملLegal status and source of offenders' firearms in states with the least stringent criteria for gun ownership.
BACKGROUND Gun possession by high-risk individuals presents a serious threat to public safety. U.S. federal law establishes minimum criteria for legal purchase and possession of firearms; many states have laws disqualifying additional categories for illegal possession. METHODS We used data from a national survey of state prison inmates to calculate: 1) the proportion of offenders, incarcerate...
متن کاملذخیره در منابع من
با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید
عنوان ژورنال:
- Injury prevention : journal of the International Society for Child and Adolescent Injury Prevention
دوره 19 6 شماره
صفحات -
تاریخ انتشار 2013